Wick Airport

"EGPC" redirects here. For the Egyptian national oil company, see Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

Wick Airport
Wick Airport terminal
IATA: WIC – ICAO: EGPC
Summary
Airport type	Private
Owner/Operator	Highlands and Islands Airports Limited
Serves	Wick, Highland
Location	Wick, Highland
Elevation AMSL	126 ft / 38 m
Coordinates
Website	Wick Airport
Map
EGPC Location in Highland
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 13/31 1,825 5,988 Grooved Asphalt
Statistics (2014)
Passengers 28,145 Passenger change 13–14 16.3% Aircraft Movements 5,711 Movements change 13–14 26.7%
Sources: UK AIP at NATS Statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority

Wick Airport (IATA: WIC, ICAO: EGPC) is located 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) north of the town of Wick in Caithness at the north-eastern extremity of the mainland of Scotland. It is owned and maintained by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited.

The airport provides air travel connections for Caithness, with scheduled services to Aberdeen Airport and Edinburgh Airport. It is also regularly used by helicopters servicing local offshore oil operations, and as a stop-over by light aircraft ferry flights between Europe and North America via Iceland.

The airport is marketed as Wick John O' Groats by FlyBe, which operates a daily service (excluding Saturdays) to Edinburgh, using its franchise partner Loganair.

History

Wick was originally a grass airfield, used by Captain E. E. Fresson's Highland Airways Ltd. (later Scottish Airways Ltd.) from 1933 until 1939.

RAF Wick

Requisitioned by the Air Ministry during World War II, the airfield was extended with hard runways, hangars, and other buildings. The airfield was administered by No. 18 Group, RAF Coastal Command. A satellite airfield existed at RAF Skitten.

On 21 May 1941, a photographic reconnaissance Supermarine Spitfire piloted by Flying Officer Michael F. Suckling took off from Wick, and flew to Norway, in search of the German battleship Bismarck. If Bismarck was to break out into the North Atlantic, she would present a significant risk to the ships supplying Britain. 320 miles to the east of Wick, F/O Suckling found and photographed her, hiding in Grimstadfjord. This information enabled the Royal Navy to order HMS Hood and other ships, as well as aircraft, to take positions intended to track Bismarck, and prevent her from entering the North Atlantic. In ensuing battles, Hood was sunk, and, later, Bismarck. German battleships and battle cruisers never again entered the North Atlantic.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Eastern Airways	Aberdeen
Flybe operated by Loganair	Edinburgh

Statistics

Busiest routes to and from Wick Airport in 2014

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	2013-2014 Change
1	United Kingdom - Aberdeen Airport	14,365	3.6%
2	United Kingdom - Edinburgh Airport	11,718	3.1%

References

• Halley, James J. The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Tonbridge, Kent: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1980. ISBN 0-85130-083-9.

External links

• Map sources for Wick Airport